Bolivien - Death Road

Today we're off to Death Road mountain biking because we're such professionals (not) and Norman raved about it so much. Death Road is also known as Yungas Road. The Death Road was created in the early 1930s during a dispute with Paraguay. The Bolivians called this war “La guerra estúpida” in English simply “The Stupid War”. At that time, the Death Road was built by Paraguayan forced laborers. It is one of the few roads that connect the Amazon rainforest in northern Bolivia with La Paz. The actual Death Road only starts from the La Cumbre Pass and from here it is around 65 kilometers long. There was heavy traffic on the single-lane gravel road, so accidents were inevitable.

Since we weren't sure whether the tour started at 7 a.m. or 7:30 a.m., we got up earlier, only to find out that we had to wait until 8:45 a.m. for our bus. After 2.5 hours of driving we arrive at the top of the mountain. It is very cold and foggy. But there is a small breakfast: tea, toast and cute dogs to pet. Norman tells us the last time he climbed a small hill on the mountain and found a Bolivian family about to sacrifice a llama. Just Bolivian Things!

As is easy to see, Lissi and Asma are too small even for Bolivian standards. But there's no point in putting on protective gear. Then we heat down an asphalt road for 45 minutes and have a visibility of 2 meters. There were no reflectors attached, neither on our protective clothing nor on our bikes - one thing is certain. Trucks, buses and cars race past us.

But survive! Now we'll take the bus up again to treat ourselves to a little lunch break. Then the Death Road really begins. From 4500 meters we race down a gravel path to 1600 meters, past breathtaking waterfalls and beautiful nature. Along the way, along steep cliffs with lots of curves, we discover a wrecked bus in the gorge. There are no figures, but it is estimated that around 300 people have accidents on Death Road every year. Shortly before our destination we squeeze past a construction site - there must have been a landslide recently. 😅

Once we reach the bottom, we can be proud of ourselves! As a reward, we treat ourselves to a beer! Lissi and Scholle have discovered their new hobby. Scholle: “But only if I can go up in a gondola”